Former government water expert Ian Lawrence and water quality consultant Ian Falconer said heating and cleaning a small area of water for swimming was a realistic and overdue proposal.

The possible urban beach development in West Basin is part of the ACT government's new City to the Lake project, which held an industry briefing on Wednesday.

It would feature a swimming area which, while part of Lake Burley Griffin, would be separated by a barrier and treated with chemicals like a standard swimming pool. It would also be heated, potentially using geothermal electricity.

Advertisement

Mr Lawrence, who until recently worked at the ACT government and the University of Canberra, said it was not only safe but also a good idea given the lake's tendency towards blue-green algae.

"In effect it is like a swimming pool, although it's immediately adjacent to the lake and has a nice aesthetic sense, in fact it's quite an independent body of water," he said.

"It's a good approach, particularly for Lake Burley Griffin, where we're seeing more and more bacteria resulting in the closure of the lake to swimming.

"By closing off part of the lake and managing it in the way proposed, the amenity of swimming is in a sense retained."

He said the idea had been discussed for some time in relation to the lake and trialling one would be a good way to test how well it performed and how popular it was with Canberrans.

Professor Falconer said the idea was similar to what had already been built in Germany, although the water in the pool would have to be watched carefully.

"It's not enough to just warm it up, they'd have to install a water treatment facility for the area ... you couldn't do the whole lake obviously, but you could enclose the area and do some effective treatment. That would be perfectly all right," he said.

17 comments so far

Doesn't the fact that our lake is a polluted wasteland for much of the year worry anyone just a bit? I would have thought cleaning the whole lake and preventing algae so you can use any part of the lake for swimming like a real clean pristine lake would be a more basic priority? Its pretty sad just how much the lake has deteriorated since I was a kid here in the 80s. I don't remember it being closed all the time with algae then........Is it all the fertiliser dumped on peoples lawns and in lakeside parks that is helping to feed the algae?

Commenter

Ben Garden

Location

Campbell

Date and time

August 21, 2014, 3:37PM

do it. keep it free public space though!

Commenter

Mert

Date and time

August 21, 2014, 4:08PM

We fouled a lake we built only 50 years ago! How long will it take to stuff up a small basin?

btw Can't help notice the architects renderings show structures on the north side overshadowing the "beach". Is this a repeat of the genius behind the Canberra International Sports & Aquatic Centre? Where are the doomed sunless palm trees bracing themselves against the southern winter winds?

Commenter

Tim Balmer

Date and time

August 21, 2014, 4:56PM

The lake frequently fills with blue-green algae, and this results from a combination of nutrients in the water (mostly if not entirely from upstream and mostly resulting from effluent) and summer warmth. Assuming we don’t (can’t??) fix the problem with the excess nutrients and we further heat the water then the outcome will undoubtedly be more blue-green algae – unless of course the added chemicals are sufficient in volume to kill of the algae in which case there will have to be a level of chemical treatment that exceeds that in the standard swimming pool. Are people expected to swim in this soup? Unless, of course, we are going to build a filtration system (shades of the NSW drinking water white-elephant) – but then how much will that cost?

Commenter

John

Location

Canberra

Date and time

August 21, 2014, 6:38PM

Are we having two April Fools Days this year.

Commenter

Gassius

Location

Kambah

Date and time

August 21, 2014, 7:04PM

As soon as we stop Queanbeyan river flowing into our lake the water quality will be so much better

Commenter

Your river stinks

Date and time

August 21, 2014, 8:18PM

This nothing new, public swimming pools have been heated an few extra degrees for free by all the urine that's passed in them by just about every swimmer that gets in.As for keeping Lake Burley Griffin B.G.A free, forget it, if nearby weeded up Googong dam suffers B.G.A outbreaks every summer now lake Burley Griffin has zero chance of being B.G.A free with the high nutrient (sewerage) load from Queanbeyan flowing in daily.Lake Burley Griffin is a great ornamental lake and even better sediment trap and a natural sewerage dump for Captains Flat, Queanbeyan & Jerrabomberra's "treated" human waste.....I wouldn't swim in it under any circumstances at any time of year.

Commenter

dusty

Date and time

August 21, 2014, 10:13PM

Another dream which has no long-term environmental benefits other than cost to the rate payer for the benefit of the few that will pocket the dollars and run.

The lake is polluted and getting worse with time.

The money would be more wisely spent examining how to clean it up and perhaps think about introducing mechanisms to aerate the murky water.

Commenter

View

Date and time

August 22, 2014, 7:21AM

Why not to do it? - because it is really just part of a complex river system, so don't mess it up even more!

Commenter

Mardi

Location

Tuggeranong

Date and time

August 22, 2014, 7:22AM

Gee, what can we waste money on now? I know, lets heat a lake that nobody will use because it is so polluted. Genius!